STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 14 November 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 14 November 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 13 November 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 13 November 2014
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Dow Jones 17,652.79 +40.59 (0.23%)
S&P 500 2,039.33 +1.08 (0.05%)
Nasdaq 4,680.14 +5.01 (0.11%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.34% -0.01 (-0.43%)
30 Year 3.07% -0.01 (-0.32%)[font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts







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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. And happy birthday, Chuck n/t

[Demeter]

2. US debt held by the Fed: Just another chart

http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/11/us-debt-held-by-fed-just-another-chart.html


Just before the 2007-08 big financial crisis hit its more critical stage, Sep. 2008, and the proposal of the 700 billion bailout to the banks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%9308), from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008, the US debt held by the Federal Reserve banks, dropped dramatically, from 740.6 billion to 478.8 billion, or, by more than 35%.

In terms of GDP for the same period, the US debt held by the Federal Reserve banks, dropped from 5.04% of GDP to 3.23% of GDP.

But the big picture comes if we dig back to the available data. From the corresponding charts (III and IV) since 1970 until today, it is clear that we cannot see such an abrupt drop of the debt held by the Federal Reserve.

TO SEE CHARTS: http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/p/blog-page_5441.html

[xchrom]

3. Oil Crashes

http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-crashes-2014-11

Both the major crude oil indexes are trading lower again on Friday morning.

Brent crude touched a new 4-year low at $76.79, $4 less than what it was trading on Nov. 13.

The last time the Brent fell so far was in 2010.

It's now trading a little higher at $77.45



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-crashes-2014-11#ixzz3J2aUkMeO

[xchrom]

4. Russia Just Gave France A Final Deadline To Hand Over The Mistral Warship

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-just-gave-france-a-final-deadline-to-hand-over-the-mistral-warship-2014-11

Russia has given France until the end of November to deliver the first of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers currently stuck in a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, according to reports.

The ship, the Vladivostok, was scheduled to be delivered on Friday but that deadline is now certain to be missed. In response a senior Russian source told state-owned news service Sputnik International that the French side now have until the end of the month to hand over the ship or the whole deal could be in jeopardy.

“We are preparing for different variations. We’ll wait until the end of the month, and then we’ll make serious claims,” the source told Sputnik.

Since the onset of the Ukraine crisis the French government has agonised over the €1.2 billion contract. After tense negotiations France succeeded in getting existing contracts excluded from the European Union's package of sanctions against Russia over its role in supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-just-gave-france-a-final-deadline-to-hand-over-the-mistral-warship-2014-11#ixzz3J2b0kEda

[xchrom]

5. Greece Is Finally Out Of Recession After 6 Horrible Years

http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-finally-out-of-recession-after-six-bitter-and-horrible-years-2014-11

After falling into recession as the 2008 financial crisis hit, Greece's economy has finally registered some growth. The economy expanded by 1.7% in Q3, compared to the same quarter last year.

It's been a long, long haul, and after six years, one of the country's longest recessions in economic history. Eurostat just released figures showing the recession actually ended in the first quarter of this year (Greece does not usually publish quarterly GDP numbers), but the data is all new.

It's no real cause for celebration: unemployment is still running at an eye-watering 26.6%, the economy is more than a quarter smaller than it was when the recession began, and there are no significant prospects for rapid growth on the horizon. In all likelihood, returning to pre-crisis GDP levels will take decades.

But for the history of the euro crisis, which was so focused on the possibility that Greece would have to exit the currency union, this is a big milestone.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-finally-out-of-recession-after-six-bitter-and-horrible-years-2014-11#ixzz3J2foXSNs

[Demeter]

13. And they can sound the All Clear on ONE MONTH'S data?

[xchrom]

6. Inflation At 0.4% And Growth At 0.2% For Europe

http://www.businessinsider.com/europe-gdp-inflation-nov-14-2014-2014-11

Eurozone growth came in higher than expected, at 0.2% for Q3, and inflation came in at 0.4%, bang on what was expected by analysts.

It's pretty close to a no-growth environment for both GDP and inflation. The figures are all incredibly low.



Here's how each of the three largest eurozone economies is doing:

German GDP rose 0.1%, narrowly avoiding a technical recession.

French GDP beat expectations, rising 0.3%, the fastest of the three (which says a lot).

Italian GDP dropped another 0.1%, keeping the country in recession. According to the Guardian's Graeme Wearden, Italy has now had stagnant or falling GDP for 13 quarters.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/europe-gdp-inflation-nov-14-2014-2014-11#ixzz3J2gGuxfX

[Demeter]

7. Ex-wife of Harold Hamm to appeal $1 billion divorce award

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102183968


Sue Ann Hamm, the ex-wife of Oklahoma oil magnate Harold Hamm who was awarded cash and assets worth more than $1 billion in the couple's divorce this week, plans to appeal the judgment on grounds that it grossly undervalues the marital wealth she is entitled to. Claiming she was shortchanged by a ruling that allows the Continental Resources chief executive officer to keep nearly all of an estimated $18 billion rise in his Continental shares during a 26-year marriage, Sue Ann Hamm plans to appeal the decision, Ron Barber, one of the attorneys on her legal team, told Reuters on Thursday. The decision was "not equitable,'' he said. On Monday, Oklahoma County Court Judge Howard Haralson ordered the Continental Resources CEO to pay his ex-wife $995 million and allowed her to keep additional assets, including a California ranch and an Oklahoma home, worth tens of millions more.

The Hamm v. Hamm divorce judgment is one of the largest in U.S. history, but the award to Sue Ann is a small fraction of the wealth Haralson allowed Harold Hamm to keep. The CEO holds more than 68 percent of Continental's stock, a stake valued at around $13.5 billion today. It was worth more than $18 billion before the 9 1/2-week divorce trial began in August. Continental shares have fallen sharply since then, in line with global oil prices. Haralson ruled that $1.4 billion of the growth in his Continental shares during the marriage was "marital capital'' to be split with Sue Ann. The rest was awarded to Harold as "separate property.''

"Sue Ann is disappointed in the outcome of this case. She dedicated 25 years as Harold's faithful partner in family and business,'' Barber told Reuters. "She plans to appeal the court's decision.'' A lawyer and economist, Sue Ann Hamm worked at Continental during stretches of the couple's marriage, which began in 1988.

A higher court could review the case and affirm Haralson's judgment, or modify the award. It could also send the case back to Haralson to be re-tried. Family law experts say the process could take anywhere from 18 months to several years.

As part of Monday's ruling, Haralson ordered Harold Hamm to pay his ex-wife more than $322 million by Dec. 31, and continue with monthly payments of at least $7 million until he covers an additional $650 million balance. She has received around $23 million from the marital estate since filing for divorce in 2012. To secure the judgment, Haralson placed a lien on 20 million shares of the CEO's Continental stock...

[Hotler]

31. Poor, poor poor Sue-ann

[xchrom]

8. European Markets Are Climbing Ahead Of Big Economic Data

http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-nov-14-2014-2014-11

Here's the scorecard:

France's CAC 40 is up 0.25%

Germany's DAX is up 0.16%

The UK's FTSE 100 is down 0.11%, the only loser.

Italy's FTSE MIB is up 0.23%

Spain's IBEX is up 0.20%

Asian markets are up. Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.56%, meaning that the index is now 9% higher than it was at the start of 2014. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 0.28%.

US futures are up slightly: the Dow is 21 points higher, and the S&P 500 is 1.75 points up.

There's big data out of Europe on Friday. At 10 a.m. GMT, inflation figures for October will be confirmed, with a 0.4% boost expected. GDP figures are also out at 10 a.m, with just a 0.1% increase expected for the third quarter.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-nov-14-2014-2014-11#ixzz3J2glzOqZ

[Demeter]

9. Why a 40-Hour Worker Means More to Small Businesses

http://online.wsj.com/articles/why-a-40-hour-worker-means-more-to-small-businesses-1415817759?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp

Owners Are Eager for Workweek-Rule Change to Avoid Health-Law Penalty

Some small-business owners are hopeful that a new Congress will change the federal health law’s requirement that businesses provide health insurance to workers who clock as little as 30 hours a week, or pay a penalty.

Republicans taking over control of the Senate would like to extend the law’s definition of a full-time workweek to 40 hours or more. That move, which would require President Barack Obama ’s approval, could benefit people such as Steve Kass, owner of New York-based American Leisure Inc., with 300 employees.

Starting next year, companies like his, with at least 100 full-time workers, are required to offer health coverage—or face fines, ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 per employee. Those with at least 50 full-time workers must provide coverage to their full-timers by 2016, or risk facing the penalties.

About 40% of American Leisure’s employees work between 30 and 40 hours a week, while just over half work more than 40 hours, he says.

With the law’s current definition of a full-time workweek at 30 hours, he is likely to reduce the weekly hours for many of his employees. “We just can’t absorb the costs” of providing all of them with health coverage that complies with the current rules, Mr. Kass says. He acknowledges that if he cuts his employees’ weekly hours, “a lot of these people will have to get second jobs.”

UNIVERSAL SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE, NOW!

[xchrom]

10. Germany Just Avoided Recession By A Hair

http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-q3-gdp-nov-14-2014-2014-11

The German economy grew by 0.1% in the third quarter. That's as weak as growth gets.

The first report for the previous quarter showed a 0.2% drop in output from Q1. Another quarter of contraction would have meant that Germany was officially in a recession.

The fact that the country is hovering just barely in growth territory is pretty terrible news for the European economy. Since 2008, Germany has been the continent's star peformer, showcasing a mild crash, low employment, and decent growth. That period might now be over.

We saw French GDP for Q3 already Friday morning: it came in at just 0.3%, a little higher than analysts expected but still pretty weak.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-q3-gdp-nov-14-2014-2014-11#ixzz3J2hFBeAG

[xchrom]

11. French GDP Beats Expectations With A 0.3% Jump In Q3

http://www.businessinsider.com/france-gdp-q3-nov-14-2014-2014-11

French GDP numbers just out show GDP rose 0.3% in the third quarter of the year.

That's more than the 0.2% predicted by analysts. French business surveys have been dismal, but it looks like the economy is seeing extremely weak growth rather than recession.

But it's not all (very modest) good news: French output was revised down for the second quarter, from flat to -0.1%.

We've also had German GDP Friday morning, which came in at just 0.1%, very narrowly avoiding recession.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/france-gdp-q3-nov-14-2014-2014-11#ixzz3J2heoRue

[xchrom]

12. G-20 SUMMIT TO BE TEST OF FORUM'S STAYING POWER

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_G_20_STAYING_POWER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-14-03-16-35

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- The annual G-20 leadership summit that groups democrats with authoritarians and rich nations with poor has long suffered from a perception it's all talk and no action. This year, leaders are under extra pressure to produce something tangible.

The global forum is regarded as having been at its most successful during its first summit in 2008 when an alarming financial crisis that was nursed into being on Wall Street rippled around the world, toppling giant banks and casting tens of millions out of work.

Since then, the gathering has been criticized as having produced a lot of lofty goals, but little follow-through despite its member countries representing about 85 percent of the global economy.

Prompting pressure for tangible results at the Group of 20's Brisbane summit this weekend, experts say, are comments from the International Monetary Fund warning about a "new mediocre" for the global economy, with Europe teetering on the brink of recession, China's growth slowing and Japan in a malaise.

[Demeter]

14. Foreclosures spike as banks ramp up repossessions

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102178228



More than five years after the foreclosure crisis began, the number of borrowers losing their homes is rising again.

Most of the troubled loans are not new; instead, the backlog of homes in the foreclosure process is finally starting to move more quickly. There was, however, a slight uptick in foreclosures on loans made in 2013 and 2014, a troubling turn.

Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were reported on 123,109 properties in October, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure sales and data company. That is a 15 percent increase from September, and the largest monthly increase since the peak of the crisis in March of 2010. The numbers are still down 8 percent from a year ago. Foreclosure activity usually spikes in the months before the holiday season, as banks want to get as many done before implementing holiday moratoria. Over the past three years there has been an average 8 percent monthly uptick in foreclosure auctions in October.

"But the sheer magnitude of the increase this year demonstrates there is more than just a seasonal pattern at work," said RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist. "Distressed properties that have been in a holding pattern for years are finally being cleared for landing at the foreclosure auction."

THE CHRISTMAS BARGAIN SHOPPING HAS BEGUN...

[xchrom]

15. ITALY'S RENZI DEFIES HIS OWN ALLIES ON LEFT

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_ITALY_RENZIS_BATTLE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-14-06-03-45

ROME (AP) -- Italy's dynamo premier works with his sleeves rolled up and often without a tie. And Matteo Renzi, on a mission to revive a moribund economy, is bringing his barnstorming style to a fight against cozy links between Italy's political Left and its influential labor unions.

The center-left Renzi is taking on his own political camp by barreling ahead with a plan to make it easier to fire workers, putting him on a collision course with union leaders, once stalwart allies of his Democratic party. Unlike Renzi, many Democrats began politics in what was once the West's largest Communist Party. His challenge was made more urgent Friday as EU figures showed Italy's economy continuing to shrink.

Renzi's centerpiece strategy is the Jobs Act - a blueprint for success he hawks nearly nightly on talk shows and by day on the stump through factories north and south. Working its way through Parliament, the legislation features an argument Italians don't normally like to hear: making it easier to fire will encourage businesses to hire.

One recent Saturday, Italy's largest union, the CGIL, filled Rome's streets with hundreds of thousands of angry marchers, some of them unfurling red Communist party flags. Union leaders have been stunned by Renzi's refusal to negotiate, a bold break with a decades-old government practice of courting both labor and industrial leaders before launching economic initiatives. This week, the union, angry that Renzi won't budge, called a nationwide general strike for Dec. 5.

[xchrom]

16. COLD SNAP HELPS WAKE UP WHEAT AND CORN PRICES

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WHEAT_CORN_REBOUND?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-13-17-23-47

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wheat prices are surging this week as temperatures plunge in the U.S. Plains states and after a government report showed domestic supplies slipped.

The price of wheat for December delivery climbed 11 cents, or 2 percent, to $5.54 on Thursday, taking its gains for the week to 7.6 percent. If the crop holds its current level it will be the biggest weekly price surge since March.

Prices started rising on Monday when a monthly report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its estimate for domestic wheat supplies. Weather issues in Australia have also damaged the crop there.

The week's cold snap in wheat-growing states, such as North Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, also pushed prices higher, as traders speculated that the winter wheat already planted could by damaged, said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting in Atchison, Kansas.

[Demeter]

17. Will retail sales reveal truth about cheap gas?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/retail-sales-reveal-truth-cheap-105756230.html

Whether consumers really are being helped by cheaper gasoline may show up in Friday's retail sales data. Economists expect October retail sales to have increased by 0.2 percent, and the control number-without gasoline, autos or building materials-is expected to have risen by 0.4 percent. That compares to a decline of 0.3 percent in September and a dip in control of 0.1 percent.

"I discount this view that a penny saved in gasoline is a billion dollars in consumers' pockets. My view is a lot of people will keep their cash in their pockets and not spend it. Somehow this number should give us a clue to some degree on that logic," said Adrian Miller, director of fixed-income strategy at GMP Securities.

Economists have been looking at the impact of falling fuel prices on the economy, and many expect a benefit of several tenths of a percent on fourth-quarter GDP. But where the savings in gas prices show up in the economy is up for debate...


SO, MARKETEERS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR GASOLINE SAVINGS?

I'M THINKING OF BUYING SOME HAMBURGER...

[xchrom]

18. FOR HOUSE, 9TH PIPELINE BILL MAY BE THE CHARM

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_KEYSTONE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-14-03-32-53

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican-controlled House is on track to easily pass a bill Friday to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and this time, the Senate may follow.

The bill marks the ninth attempt by the House to secure approval of the pipeline, which has been repeatedly delayed by environmental reviews, legal challenges to its route and politics. Prior votes in the Senate on the issue have failed to get enough votes, but supporters said Thursday they were close to reaching that threshold.

Both the GOP and Senate Democrats hope the votes will give an edge to their party's candidate in the Louisiana Senate race, where Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy and Sen. Mary Landrieu are headed for a runoff and both touting their energy credentials in an oil and gas-producing state.

While Landrieu pushed for the vote planned in the Senate next week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky credited the Republican sponsor, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, for the progress Thursday.

[xchrom]

19. U.S. Said to Give Banks December Deadline in FX Probe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-13/u-s-said-to-give-banks-december-deadline-in-fx-probe.html

The U.S. Justice Department has given banks about a month to come clean about wrongdoing as it moves closer to wrapping up an investigation into the rigging of currency benchmarks, a person familiar with the probe said.

The banks have met with officials in recent weeks to lay out how they see their liability, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential. Prosecutors have demanded a full accounting of any misconduct by mid-December, the person said.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday the department will finish the currency-trading investigation “relatively soon” and is moving toward civil and criminal resolutions.

The Justice Department is likely to bring cases against banks early next year, followed by charges against individuals, the person said. Prosecutors had been pushing to bring a case against at least one bank before the end of the year.

[xchrom]

20. AIG May Be on Hook If Hank Greenberg Wins Bailout Suit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/aig-may-be-on-hook-if-hank-greenberg-wins-bailout-suit.html

The U.S. government has grounds to demand that American International Group Inc. (AIG) pay any significant damages should Maurice “Hank” Greenberg win his $25 billion claim that federal officials shortchanged investors in the 2008 bailout of the insurer.

Greenberg and other investors who sued the government initially estimated damages at $25 billion. Later calculations put the figure closer to $40 billion. The smaller figure would be the equivalent of more than the twice insurer’s $9 billion in net profit last year.

During any U.S. attempt to establish a legal right to the money, based on an indemnity promise in AIG’s bailout agreement, taxpayers would probably have to foot the bill initially. Damages would be paid out of the so-called Judgment Fund, which is administered by the Department of Treasury.

“It’s this bottomless financial pit that the government dips into when it has to pay a judgment,” said John Echeverria, a professor at the Vermont School of Law.

[xchrom]

21. Oil-Price Rout Seen Deepening by IEA as Pressure on OPEC Mounts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/oil-price-rout-seen-deepening-by-iea-as-pressure-on-opec-mounts.html


Oil prices could slide from a four-year low in the coming months as the market enters a period of weaker demand, increasing pressure on OPEC to reduce production, the International Energy Agency said.

Consumption will slide by about 1 percent to 92.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter from the current three-month period, the Paris-based adviser to 29 nations said in a monthly market report today. Barring new supply disruptions, the seasonal demand slump will push prices lower, it said. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Vienna to review their production target on Nov. 27.

“Supply-demand balances suggest that the price rout has yet to run its course,” the IEA said. “Downward price pressures could build further in the first half of 2015. Pressure on OPEC to reduce production is building.”

Oil collapsed into a bear market last month as leading OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia maintained production despite a global surplus triggered by surging U.S. shale supplies. The oil market is entering a “new chapter” as world economic growth fails to spur demand as much as in previous years, while technological advances make extracting new supplies easier, the IEA said.

[xchrom]

22. Fracking Boom Spurs Demand for Sand and Clouds of Dust

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/fracking-boom-spurs-demand-for-sand-and-clouds-of-dust.html

A little sand mine down the road didn’t seem like a big deal 17 years ago, when Alphonse Dotson picked the site for a vineyard in the Texas Hill Country.

Today he’s surrounded by four mines blasting sand from the earth, filling the air with a fine dust that drifts across acres of sensitive grape vines. A fifth will open soon, and he says he’s worried.

“I don’t want us to be smothered to death,” he said.

Add sand mining to the list of industries transformed by the U.S. oil boom. The tiny grains of silica are what keep frackers fracking, propping open cracks punched into rock so oil and natural gas can flow. As drilling surged, so has demand for sand.

Sand production has more than doubled in the U.S. over the past seven years. By the end of 2016, oil companies in North America will be pumping 145 billion pounds (66 billion kilograms) of it down wells annually. That’s enough to fill railcars stretching from San Francisco to New York -- and back.

[Demeter]

23. Obsolete dogmas are crippling the world economy

https://secure.marketwatch.com/story/obsolete-dogmas-are-crippling-the-world-economy-2014-11-14?siteid=YAHOOB

DO TELL!

U.S., Europe suffer from bumbling leaders pursuing misguided policies

AND HAVE, FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS OR MORE...

The G-7 leaders don’t get it: We need a new way to think about the economy. The world desperately needs a new economic paradigm...As Europe tips into recession again, U.S. growth fails to translate into jobs and incomes, and emerging markets cope with slow global growth and the need to improve living standards, the old economic models no longer seem to work. The classic economic verities no longer apply — competition is not perfect, markets are not efficient, and growth is not guaranteed. In fact, the message emerging from Thomas Piketty’s analysis of the stifling effects of capital accumulation, from Larry Summers’ talk of secular stagnation, and from James Galbraith’s new book, “The End of Normal: The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth,” is that slower growth may be the new norm.

And policy makers don’t get it.

Many of them have no more economic background than an undergraduate course they have long since forgotten. And they rely on advice from economists trained in an ossified academia that insists on a strict orthodoxy for appointments and advancement — or worse, from people without any formal economic training. The result is what we see around us. Europe promoting austerity during a recession with a fervor that is almost sociopathic, the U.S. cutting government spending even as consumers retrench and companies stop investing — governments, in short, applying policies that make a bad situation worse.

This week saw revelations from former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reflecting the view that many of us have long held — that European Union policy makers are bumbling, short-sighted moralists more intent on punishing countries that broke the rules than on restoring prosperity to the entire bloc.

Short of a full-fledged catastrophe overtaking us, however, neither the political establishment nor the public are ready for this radical a change.

“‘Definitely get out the bats,’” is the colorful way Geithner paraphrased the attitude of EU officials to Greece. “They just wanted to take a bat to them.”

The comments from Geithner — taken from transcripts of background interviews he gave to his assistants for his recent memoir (which were mysteriously leaked to the Financial Times ) — go on with some more frank assessments.

“We’re going to teach the Greeks a lesson,” he said, paraphrasing EU officials at a 2010 meeting of G-7 finance ministers. “They are really terrible. They lied to us. They suck and they were profligate and took advantage of the whole basic thing and we’re going to crush them.”

Geithner says he tried to counteract “this blood-curdling moral hazard-y stuff” with cautions about preventing any contagion to other peripheral countries. To little avail.

“I completely underweighted the possibility they would flail around for three years,” Geithner said, according to these transcripts. “I thought it was just inconceivable to me they would let it get as bad as they ultimately did.”

In an earlier batch of leaked statements reported by ProPublica, Geithner acknowledged that U.S. efforts to rein in the banks and mitigate the consequences of the mortgage debacle also fell far short of their goals.

It is well known that early in President Barack Obama’s administration, economic advisers who advocated an aggressive fiscal stimulus — one that might actually have jump-started the economy into more rapid growth — lost the internal White House debate to a more timid camp.

What is needed on both sides of the Atlantic are real leaders with political courage who have enough sense to find economists with new ideas about how to cope with the realities of the 21st century....Don’t hold your breath....In the meantime, we will continue to suffer the travesty of citizens in the two richest economies in the world, the U.S. and the EU, thrust into poverty, stress, and lower standards of living by bumbling politicians using obsolete paradigms for understanding how the world works.

[Demeter]

24. Elizabeth Warren: It’s time to work on America’s agenda

EMAIL

There have been terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Election Days for Democrats before -- and Republicans have had a few of those, too. Such days are always followed by plenty of pronouncements about what just changed and what’s going to be different going forward.

But for all the talk of change in Washington and in states where one party is taking over from another, one thing has not changed: The stock market and gross domestic product keep going up, while families are getting squeezed hard by an economy that isn’t working for them.

The solution to this isn’t a basket of quickly passed laws designed to prove Congress can do something -- anything. The solution isn’t for the president to cut deals -- any deals -- just to show he can do business. The solution requires an honest recognition of the kind of changes needed if families are going to get a shot at building a secure future.

It’s not about big government or small government. It’s not the size of government that worries people; rather it’s deep-down concern over who government works for. People are ready to work, ready to do their part, ready to fight for their futures and their kids’ futures, but they see a government that bows and scrapes for big corporations, big banks, big oil companies and big political donors -- and they know this government does not work for them.

The American people want a fighting chance to build better lives for their families. They want a government that will stand up to the big banks when they break the law. A government that helps out students who are getting crushed by debt. A government that will protect and expand Social Security for our seniors and raise the minimum wage.

Americans understand that building a prosperous future isn’t free. They want us to invest carefully and prudently, sharply aware that Congress spends the people’s money. They want us to make investments that will pay off in their lives, investments in the roads and power grids that make it easier for businesses to create good jobs here in America, investments in medical and scientific research that spur new discoveries and economic growth, and investments in educating our children so they can build a future for themselves and their children.

Before leaders in Congress and the president get caught up in proving they can pass some new laws, everyone should take a skeptical look at whom those new laws will serve. At this very minute, lobbyists and lawyers are lining up by the thousands to push for new laws -- laws that will help their rich and powerful clients get richer and more powerful. Hoping to catch a wave of dealmaking, these lobbyists and lawyers -- and their well-heeled clients -- are looking for the chance to rig the game just a little more.

But the lobbyists’ agenda is not America’s agenda. Americans are deeply suspicious of trade deals negotiated in secret, with chief executives invited into the room while the workers whose jobs are on the line are locked outside. They have been burned enough times on tax deals that carefully protect the tender fannies of billionaires and big oil and other big political donors, while working families just get hammered. They are appalled by Wall Street banks that got taxpayer bailouts and now whine that the laws are too tough, even as they rake in billions in profits. If cutting deals means helping big corporations, Wall Street banks and the already-powerful, that isn’t a victory for the American people -- it’s just another round of the same old rigged game.

Yes, we need action. But action must be focused in the right place: on ending tax laws riddled with loopholes that favor giant corporations, on breaking up the financial institutions that continue to threaten our economy, and on giving people struggling with high-interest student loans the same chance to refinance their debt that every Wall Street corporation enjoys. There’s no shortage of work that Congress can do, but the agenda shouldn’t be drawn up by a bunch of corporate lobbyists and lawyers.

Change is hard, especially when the playing field is already tilted so far in favor of those with money and influence. But this government belongs to the American people, and it’s time to work on America’s agenda. America is ready -- and Congress should be ready, too.

[Hotler]

32. I have a feeling that the PTB have already had a talk with her and

with each passing day she moves closer to toeing the line of not making any waves.

[xchrom]

25. Loss-Absorbing Senior Bonds Seen as Next Step for Banks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/loss-absorbing-senior-bonds-seen-as-next-step-for-banks.html

The next step in the transformation of the bank debt market as regulators seek to end too-big-to-fail institutions is heading to the creation of a new type of security designed to absorb losses.

With policy makers demanding the world’s biggest lenders hold hundreds of billions of dollars of securities that can be written off in a collapse, investors at Aberdeen Asset Management and AllianceBernstein Ltd. say there’s a need for senior bonds to take the strain. They would be cheaper to issue than subordinated notes being used by banks at the moment, which yield as much as 6.65 percent, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data.

“There’ll be a number of clever people at the investment banks right now trying to come up with bonds that can be bailed in but are still senior to subordinated instruments,” said Laurent Frings, the London-based co-head of European credit research at Aberdeen Asset Management, which oversees about $520 billion. “That will minimize the overall cost to issuers but it’s going to be tricky.”

The Basel-based Financial Stability Board and national regulators are acting to fix the parts of banks’ capital structures that the 2008 financial crisis showed didn’t work. They want to ensure taxpayers aren’t left on the hook when banks collapse and to avoid situations such as in Cyprus two years ago, when deposits were seized to defray the cost of a 10 billion-euro ($12.4 billion) bailout.

[xchrom]

26. China-Pakistan Fighter Jet Nears First Foreign Deal

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/china-pakistan-fighter-jet-nears-first-foreign-deal.html


An unidentified Middle Eastern country is in “advanced” talks to make the first foreign purchase of a fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China.

The joint sales team from the Pakistan Air Force and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation also known as CATIC, are in advanced talks with 10 other countries to sell the JF-17 Thunder, said PAF Air Commodore Khalid Mahmood, who heads sales and marketing for the fighter jet.

“We are in advanced negotiations with a Middle Eastern country, but the political situation over there has delayed the deal,” said Mahmood in an interview at the Zhuhai Air Show yesterday, declining to give more details. “But we still expect them to be our first foreign client.”

The JF-17 Thunder fighter jet is among several aircraft China is seeking to export, after designating its domestic aerospace sector as a key national strategic industry. The twin-engine jet was jointly designed and manufactured by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China, also known as AVIC.

[Demeter]

27. Welfare programs shown to reduce poverty in America

NO, THESE PROGRAMS DO NOT REDUCE POVERTY...THEY MERELY PREVENT THE WORST LEVELS OF DEPRIVATION OF THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE. THEY ARE NO CURE, NO THERAPY. IT'S LIKE FEEDING THE ANIMALS IN THE ZOO...THE POOREST ARE STILL CAPTIVE, STILL ALIVE.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/nov/12/social-welfare-programs-food-stamps-reduce-poverty-america?CMP=ema_565

Without social security, the poverty rate for Americans 65 and older would jump nearly 40% ...Food stamps. Unemployment benefits. Social security. Earned income tax credits....Do these social welfare programs work? Yes, according to a new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Safety nets like food stamps prevent millions more people from struggling to put food on the table, says Jake Grovum, who analyzed the data for the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Consider Grovum’s findings:

For people of all ages, the official poverty rate in the US was 14.5%. That’s equivalent to 45.3 million people.

Without food stamps, the poverty rate would be 17.10% – another 8 million Americans would be living in poverty.

Without social security, the poverty rate for Americans 65 and older would be 52.67% instead of the current 14.6%.

Without tax credits like the federal earned income tax credit, poverty for children under 18 would be 22.8% instead of the official poverty rate of 19.9%.

These numbers are important. US lawmakers have long struggled to show exactly how and where certain types of government assistance are helping Americans stay out of poverty. Nobody, on the right or the left, wants more people to live in poverty. Yet America has a dismal record on poverty for an advanced nation. Already, over 14% of US households have experienced food insecurity. One in seven Americans live in poverty, including one in five US children. Of all the millions of unemployed people in the country, fully one-third have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Where the opinions divide is how to address the problem. Republicans including Paul Ryan have advocated cutting and consolidating government programs. Congress put that belief into legislation last year, cutting both food stamps and unemployment benefits.

The assumption in the slash-and-burn approach is that poor Americans have no one to blame but themselves for their poverty, and they only need more discipline to get out of their circumstances. Welfare skeptics find the accounts of those struggling “another sob story” and wonder why more people can’t just bootstrap themselves.

If only the poor could be more organized...

INDEED, ONLY NOT IN THE RAND PAUL "PULL YOURSELF UP BY YOUR BOOT STRAPS" WAY...

[Demeter]

28. The secret to raising the minimum wage may be to stop trusting Democrats--Sarah Jaffe

IF THOSE BEARING THE TITLE WERE TRULY DEMOCRATS, WE COULD TRUST THEM!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/11/raising-minimum-wage-democrats-conservatives-what-now?CMP=ema_565

In too many places, elected Democrats have failed – with or without Republican obstruction – to stand up for working people, especially when it comes to raising the minimum wage.

But if you think it’s weird that voters turned out last week to support liberal ballot initiatives like minimum-wage increases and paid sick-time laws – even in red states like Arkansas and Alaska – while simultaneously casting their ballots for all those Republican legislators and governors, think again: the devil is really in the details – and the GOP just pulled a fast one on worker’s rights.

Democrat Mark Pryor, who lost his race to stay Arkansas senator, opposed a federal minimum-wage increase, calling $10.10 an hour “too much too fast”. (And, in case you’re wondering, the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation, which lobby against wage increases, donated to his campaign.) Pryor did support increasing his state’s minimum wage, but perhaps voters could be forgiven for not exactly believing that the candidates’ stances on minimum-wage bumps were a major difference between Pryor and Republican Tom Cotton – especially after Cotton voiced support for the minimum-wage ballot initiative and tried to pin the so-called “minimum wage economy” against Pryor and President Obama.

In Alaska, liberal columnist Shannyn Moore opined that, “When Alaskans are asked to vote their values, and they’re given a clean, non-partisan choice, they seem to prefer the more progressive path: higher minimum wage, environmental protection, fair treatment of public employees, a rational position on drugs.” Yet those same Alaskans may have voted out their Democratic senator – Mark Begich remains in a race too close to call. But once again, if an Alaskan was looking for a clear signal to voters from Democratic politicians that this is the party of higher minimum wages, she might well have been confused by that time Alaska Republicans tried to pass legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage, only to have Democrats vote it down in order to keep the issue on the ballot last week.

In Massachusetts, where 60% of voters supported a paid sick leave measure, Republican Charlie Baker, now the governor-elect, even introduced his own proposal for paid sick days (limiting them to employees at bigger firms, but still) after Democrat Martha Coakley tried to use the issue to drum up support.

While it’s true that, in each of these cases, Republicans were cynically attempting to circumvent a broader increase in wages or sick time with a narrower measure of their own, if voters only listened to campaign ads, they’d have thought that the GOP was the party of higher wages and better jobs...

[Demeter]

29. Congress to vote on Keystone pipeline in high-stakes challenge to Obama

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/13/congress-vote-keystone-climate-change-obama?CMP=ema_565

Senate and House of Representatives schedule votes to support controversial pipeline, hours after president announced historic emissions deal with China

Both chambers of the US Congress will vote on a bill to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in the coming days, in what could amount to an immediate challenge to Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce global carbon emissions. The decision by Democratic leaders in the Senate to schedule a vote for Tuesday next week on the Keystone legislation was taken after the party’s Louisiana senator, Mary Landrieu, spent Wednesday afternoon engaged in a high-stakes bid to force the vote.

Landrieu, a longtime critic of Obama’s energy policy, is locked in a tight re-election battle against the Republican congressman Bill Cassidy, which will be resolved in a runoff on 6 December, after neither managed to gain the 50% required for an outright victory in the midterms last week.

Less than 24 hours after Obama announced a deal with China to limit and reduce carbon emissions, Landrieu took the Senate floor to call for unanimous consent for a vote on her bill to approve the pipeline. In the end, the Senate and the House of Representatives scheduled votes to support Keystone XL, which would transport crude oil from Canada to the Gulf coast in Texas. The House vote, which will almost certainly pass, will take place on Friday.

Keystone has been a political hot potato for the Obama administration, which has repeatedly delayed a decision over approval of the pipe. It is not clear whether Obama would give the project his consent...

[Demeter]

30. This Friday is Euchre Night

And the game is being held in the wilds of Hamburg. The only other time this happened, I got lost on the way out and was rescued by some friendly natives who took me to the interstate...

And it's DARK out there in the woods...especially since DST is over.

If I make it back, I'll see you all on the Weekend!